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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE INAUGURATION 

OF 

MILLS'S EQUESTRIAN STATUE 

OF 

ANDREW JACKSON, 

AT WASHINGTON, JANUARY 8, 1853. 



"7 . 

From the " Union " of January 9, 1853. 

At an early hour yesterday it was perceptible that the citizens of Washington were 
intent on something beyond the ordinary routine of business. The sky was clear, the 
air soft and bland, like that of the Indian summer, and not like that of mid-winter. 
The occasional boom of a gun, and the pavements thronged with per ons moving toward 
Lafayette Square, would have indicated to an utter stranger that some interesting cere- 
mony engaged the public attention. That ceremony was the inauguration of a statue o* 
Andrew Jackson, which the gratitude of the people, whom he had served with more 
than Roman devotion in the field and in the cabinet, had erected to commemorate hit 
heroism, his genius, and his virtues. The day chosen was fit and appropriate, being 
the anniversary of the closing struggle of the second war of Independence — the anniver- 
gary of the day when our citizen soldiery, animated by the example of Andrew Jackson, 
and directed by his skill, overthrew the most formidable army which ever invaded our 
shores. 

The procession was formed in front of the City Hall, under the direction of George 
W. Hughes, Esq., of Maryland, late a colonel in the United States Army, distinguished 
for his eminent services in the Mexican war, who was appointed by the Managing Com- 
mittee of the Monument Association chief marshal of the day. By the direction of 
Colonel Hughes and his aids and assistant marshals, the procession moved in imposing 
numbers and admirable order to Pennsylvania avenue, and thence toward Layfayette 
Square. Every available position along the route was filled with ladies and gentlemen — 
the balconies, and in many instances the house-tops, being filled with spectators. Ring- 
gold's celebrated battery of flying artillery, under the command of Mayjor Taylor, led 
the column, and attracted marked attention by its precise movements, and by the 
glorious reminiscences which it awakened. Then came a company of United States 
marines, commanded by Lieutenant Henderson; the Washington Light Infantry, Cap- 
Tate; the National Greys, Captain Bacon; the Continental Guards, Captain Wilson; 
the VValker Sharpshooters, Captain Bradford; the German Yagers, Captain Swartzmau; 
and the Boone Riflemen, Captain Bright — all under the directum of Colonel William 
Hickey, Lieutenant Colonel Riley, Major Keywortb, and Adjutant Tait. The civil 
procession, consisting of the city officers, members of Congress, the Democratic Asso- 
ciations of Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, with delegations from Baltimore, 
followed. Conspicuous positions were allotted to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army 
and his staff, to the artist whose untutored genius had produced the statue, and to the 
Committee of Management charged with its erection. Proceeding up Pennsylvania 
avenue, the procession entered the grounds of the Executive Mansion, passing around 
the semi- circle in front, and saluting the President, who was attended by the members 
of his cabinet and distinguished officers of the army and navy. The military, led by 
Ringgold's battery, then moved around Lafayette Square, entering it from the northern 
gate— the civic procession moving down the avenue, and entering through the southern 
gate. 



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Rev. Clement C. Butler, Chaplain to the Senate, opened the cremonies by an elo- f 

quent and appropriate prayer. Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, Senator from Illinois, the 
orator of the occasion, was then introduced to the multitude, and riveted its attention 
while he delivered, in the happiest manner, the able, graphic, stirring address we pub- 
lish to-day, which cannot fail to command the attention and applause of every reader 
by the happy spirit in which it was conceived, by its admirable sketch of the civil and 
military services of Andrew Jackson, by its freedom from party illusions, by the patri- 
otic sentiments it contains, and by the stirring language in which it was announced. 

When the orator had concluded, amidst the shouts of the thousands who surrounded / 

him, Clark Mills, Esq., was introduced. He had no words to express his feelings, and 
in lieu of words he pointed to the veiled statue; the veil was instantly withdrawn, and 
Jackson on his steed, as if in full action, full of life and energy, was revealed. That 
was his speech, and none could have been more appropriate. Without instruction, 
without instruments or appliances, with but little encouragement, and against the re- 
monstrances and hinderances of men of art and men of science, he had labored for 
years, and by a simple gesture he pointed to the result of his labors. The scene was 
most picturesque. The speaker's stand was filled with eminent men — the President 
and his cabinet, Gen. Scott and his staff, distinguished Senators and Representatives — 
while at least twenty thousand of tte people occupied the square and the neighboring 
house tops. The bands played a solute, ond Taylor's battery answered with the guns 
which had done such good service against the enemies of the country. The Rev. Mr. 
Gallagher, Chaplain of the House of Representatives, closed the ceremonies in a most 
appropriate manner. Then the various military companies fired off amidst the cheers 
and the music of their bands, many citizens lingering in admiration of the matchless 
work which the hands of a man of the people had fashioned. 

Thanks to Colonel Hughes and to his aids and assistants, everything was so well 
ordered that no untoward accident happened. The streets and the square were crowd- 
ed, yet every movement was so organized and arranged that no collision occurred, and 
the imposing ceremonies connected with the inauguration of the statue were concluded 
as befitted the occasion. 



ORATION 



OF THE 



HON. STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS, 



ex THE 



INAUGURATION OF THE JACKSON STATUE, 

JANUARY 8, 1853. 



All nations have marked the period of their highest civilization and greatest develop- 
ment by monuments to their illustrious men. The hero, the statesman, the benefactor 
of the age, thus passes on to succeeding generations, and carries with him the glories 
of his time and the memory of the people associated with his achievements. Trajan on 
his historic column illustrated to successive generations the brilliant achievements in 
the field and wise acts in council, which imparted lustre and immortality to his ieign. 
Constantine, from his storied arch, for centuries has proclaimed religious toleration to 
the humble Christian, and proudly recounted the glorious deeds of his life and times. 
The sculptured marble above the urns that hold their sacred ashes delineate the ani- 
mated scenes in which their fame was won, and command the admiration, if no» the 
homage, of the world. The best of emperors, Marcus Aurelius, looks from his fiery 
steed on the realm he exalted — a group in monumental bronze the noblest in all an- 
tiquity. It yet survives the ruin of his country, in sublime majesty perpetuating the 
glories of the man and the gratitude of the Roman people, amidst a degradation to which 
it now imparts a hope of regeneration. The statue before you is the work of a man 
exalted by his enthusiam for the glorious deeds and wise acts of a hero and statesman. 
It is the work of a young, untaught American. I cannot call him an artist. He never 
studied nor copied. He never saw an Equestrian Statue, nor even a model. It is the 
work of inborn genius, aroused to energy by the triumphant spirit of liberty which 
throbs in the great heart of our continent — which creates the power of great concep- 
tions, the aspiration and the will, the mental faculty and the manual skill, to eternize 
the actors who ennoble the country, by giving their forms and expressions to imperisha- 
ble materials. 

Proudly may we compare to the Equestrian Statues of Europe that noble Roman 
figure which preserves the form and features of our hero, and that colossal war-horse in 
bronze which will bear him in glory through future ages! I have seen delineations 
of the Equestrian Statues of Peter the Great, of Frederick the Great, and of the Duke 
of Wellington, which are esteemed, I believe, the best specimens of that description of 
sculpture that modern Europe has been able to contribute to her collection of works of 
art. The horse of the great Czar is supported in its rampant position by resting on the 
hind feet with the aid of the unsightly contrivance of extending between its legs a ser- 
pent, which, by a bend in the body, connects with the tail of the steed and is fastened 
to the pedestal. That of the great Prussian monarch, designed to appear in motion, 
has one foot before and another behind fixed to the pedestal, a third lifted and supported 
by a prop to assist in sustaining the weight, and but one left free to give the semblance 
of life and movement. The rearing steed of the Duke of Wellington, like that of 
Peter the Great, maintains its rampant position by the hind iegs and tail being riveted 
to the massive pedestal. What a wonderful triumph has our untaught countryman 
achieved over these renowned trophies of European art in the hot and fiery charger be- 
fore you, leaping "so proudly as if he disdained the ground," self-poised and self-sus- 
tained on the single point whence he derives his motion! IVo props, no serpents, no 
unnatural contrivances, are here. Natqre, which has taught the impetuous steed to 



poise his weight and gather his strength to spring into the air, has given the genres 
which fashioned this group the power to impart grace and energy to the finely-balanced 
attitude, which makes the weight, that others prop and hold up by rivets, furnish to the 
work its strength and stability. 

But the real power of the noblest monument consists in the moral grandeur of the 
recollections it recalls. The exquisite beauty of the statue of Nero, by its contrast 
with the monster it brings to mind, makes the heart recoil as from the shining folds of 
a polished serpent. How different the beholder in the presence of the august form be- 
fore us! The image of the resistless hero, who drove the last invader from our shores, 
turns back our thoughts to the eager boy who shed his stripling blood in the revolution, 
and to the resolute sage who withstood the corruption and phrenzy of his times, and to 
the patriot statesman whose life and deeds mark a most eventful era in our national 
history. 

Let me glance at some of the events in his glorious career, and close with a view of 
him in his retirement at the Hermitage. 

In the year 1765 a small vessel arrived in the harbor of Charleston with a number 
of Irish emigrants on board, who had fled from tyranny and persecution in the Old 
World to find peace and freedom in the new. Among them was a family by the name 
of Jackson, consisting of Andrew and bis wife, and their two sons, Hugh and Robert. 
They immediately proceeded to the upper country, and selected for their new home a 
lonely spot in the secluded valley of the Waxhaw. Two years after, Andrew Jackson, 
whose illustrious deeds have filled the world with his renown, was born. The father 
died a few months after the birth of the son, who was to inherit his name and render it 
immortal. Nobly did the widowed mother perform her duty to those fatherless children. 
The earlier years of our hero's boyhood were spent in the peaceful abode of Waxhaw 
Academy. He was there when the revolution burst upon the world. The war-cry 
from the bloody fields of Lexington, and Concord, and Bunker Hill aroused the people 
of all the colonies to a just sense of their wrongs, and inspired them with the firm re- 
solve to assert and vindicate their rights. The disastrous campaign which succeeded 
the first brilliant achievements — the heroic movements of Washington at Trenton — the 
sufferings of the army at Valley Forge — the glorious victory at Saratoga — excited, in 
alternation, the fears and hopes of the people, and roused their patriotism to the highest 
point. When the tide of desolation rolled over the scattered settlements of the Caro- 
linas, the whole population, old and young, proved themselves worthy of freedom by 
the spirit in which they mtt the ruthless oppressor. Hugh, the elder brother of Andrew 
Jackson, fell in his first battle at J^tono. Robert became a matyr to liberty, and lost his 
life from wounds received while in captivity. The mother descended to the grave, a 
victim to grief and suffering in ceaseless efforts to rescue and save her sons. Andrew 
was thus left alone in the world at a tender age, without father or mother, brother or 
sister, friend or fortune, to assist him. All was gone save the high qualities with which 
God had endowed him, and the noble precepts which a pious and sainted mother had 
infused into his young heart. He had already, at the age of fourteen, become a soldier 
of the revolution — had borne the fatigues and privations of the march with his musket 
on his shoulder — had displayed the coolness, intrepidity, and fortitude of the veteran in 
his first engagements with the enemy — had endured the sufferings of a cruel captivity, 
and, for his manly refusal to perform menial services while a prisoner, he had received 
a wound from the sword of a British officer, the scar of which he carried with him to 
his grave. 

The enemy repulsed, the young hero returned to his studies to piepare himself for the 
practice of the law, which he had selected as a profession. 

In the meantime the noble work of political regeneration was pressed forward — the 
union of the colonies confirmed by the Articles of Confederation— the independence of 
the American States acknowledged by the powers of Europe— the laws and institutions 
of the several States revised and moulded in conformity with the inalienable rights of 
man — the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty established in the State 
Constitutions— and growing out of and resting upon these, was the organization of the 
Federal Government under that wonderful instrument, the Constitution of the United 
States. America then stood forth a power on earth, wit i the immortal Washington at 
its head. At peace with the nations of the Old World— with a wise foreign policy ad- 
mirably adapted to our condition and relative position — with a wide spread and rapidly 
increasing commerce, what more natural than that the energies of the people should be 
directed to the settlement and development of that vast and fertile wilderness in the val- 
ley of the Mississippi, and that the Father of his Country should exert all rightful au- 



thority for their protection in so laudable an enterprise. The several States claiming title 
to those expansive regions, animated by a patriotic and self sacrificing spirit, had volun- 
tarily executed deeds of cession and relinquishment, in order to create a common fund 
in the hands of the Federal Government with which to discharge the debts of the revo- 
lution. The ordinance of 1787, establishing Territorial Governments, and providing for 
the erection of not less than three nor more than five States, had opened to imigration 
and settlement the country northwest of the river Ohio; while the extension of the main 
provisions of that act to the country south of that river had created a civil government 
for the people of the Southwest Territory. The tide of immigration had commenced 
rolling westward, and was rushing across the Alleghanies through every pass and gorge 
in the mountains. The bold adventurer, rejoicing in danger and novelty— the unfortu- 
nate, who hoped to regain his lost position — the poor emigrant, with his wife and child- 
ren, all that he could claim as his own on earth— could be seen winding their way, 
by the buffalo paths and Indian trails, to what seemed to them. a promised land. The 
Carolinians had descended the French Broad, had stretched along the Holston, and 
penetrated the valley of the Cumberland. These early pioneers were a peculiar people — 
hardy, daring, impatient of restraint, and simple in their habits of life. Imbued with an 
exalted sentiment of personal liberty and a keen perception of individual rights, they 
were ever ready with their live6 to repel aggressions or redress wrongs. Beneath these 
qualities were clearly descernible all the elements of political organization, of social de- 
velopments, and of a pure, unadulterated religious reverence. Foremost among these 
people, giving tone to their counsels, and taking the lead in all important movements, was 
Andrew Jackson. If Indian ravages upon the scattered settlements were to be arrested — 
if the savage perpetrators were to be punished — if daring outlaws were to be brought to 
justice — if the lonely immigrant in the wilderness was to be rescued from the tomahawk 
or starvation— Jackson always led the gallant band. Attorney General of the Territory 
by the appointment of Washington — member of the Convention which laid the foun- 
dations of the State Government — major-general of the militia intrusted with the defence 
of the inhabitants against the tomahawk and scalping knife — a member of the House of 
Representatives, and a Senator in the Congress of the United States — Judge of the Su- 
preme Court of his Slate — the genius of Jackson was everywhere indelibly impressed on 
the character of the people and the laws and institutions of his own beloved Tennessee. 

Amicable relations being established with the Indian tribes, and symmetry and con- 
sistency imparted to their political and social organizations, the people of Tennessee 
naturally turned their attention to the development and enjoyment of all those advanta- 
ges with which soil, climate, and Nature in its luxuriance and magnificence, had sur- 
rounded them. Now Jackson felt himself at liberty to gratify an inclination he had long 
cherished, of withdrawing from the cares and toils of official position, and retiring to his 
farm, rejoicing in the society of his devoted and beloved wife, and surrounded by all the 
comforts and enjoyments his tastes could suggest or his heart desire. He carried into re- 
tirement, and displayed in the management of his farm, and his intercourse with his 
fellow- citizens, the same high qualrties which had stamped invincibility upon his char- 
acter and success upon his movements. His hospitable mansion was a home to the stranger 
and the pi<>n er — his name was upon every tongue, and his praises were heard where- 
ever his influence was felt. Becoming a silent partner in a mercantile establishment, he 
soon discovered the misfortune of his associate, by which the firm was reduced to bank- 
ruptcy. Instantly recognising the moral obligation to discharge the last farthing of in- 
debtedness, he disposed of his hnds, his stock, his home — all the proceeds of his toils — 
and became the humble tenant of a rude log- cabin, in preference to the humiliation of 
pecuniary vassalage. 

Such a man can always rise above misfortune. By the force of his character, and the 
judicious application of his va-t mental resources, he soon recovered from his pecuniary 
embarrassments, and became a flourishing and even wealthy farmer. From his retire- 
ment he viewed with indignation the long series of British aggressions on the commerce 
and flag of his native country. He was an ardent supporter of the principles of Jeffer- 
son and Madison, and especially of all those measures calculated to maintain the rights 
of his country and redress the wrongs of his countrymen on the high seas. Had he 
succeeded in his aspirations to the command which was unfortunately assigned to Win- 
chester, who can doubt, at this day, that the series of disasters on the northern frontier, 
which filled the country with humiliation, and clothed so many families in mourning, 
would have been averted } The terrible massacre at the river Raisin, succeeding the dis- 
graceful surrender of Detroit by Hull, encouraged Tecumseh and the Prophet to almost 
■uperhuman efforts for the accomplishment of their grand design of an alliance between 



^ie British and all the savage tribes, from the Gulf of Mexico to the northern lakes, for 
the purpose of exterminating with the sword and the tomahawk the white race in the 
Mississippi valley, and of restoring all that vast and fertile region — the heart of the Am- 
erican continent — to its aboriginal proprietors, and of consecrating it to perpetual barbar- 
ism under the protection of the British Government. The arrangements were already 
perfected so far as the northwestern country was concerned. Immediately after the 
massacre, Tecumseh, who possessed genius equal to any conception, and a force of char- 
acter commensurate with the magnitude of his plans, started south, in fulfilment of his 
mission, going from tribe to tribe, electrifying them by the power of his eloquence, and 
driving them to madness by horrible 'pictures of monstrous wrongs perpetrated by the 
American people. The Creeks, the Chiekasaws, the Choctaws, and the Setninoles, 
were the principal tribes yet to be added to this savage alliance. The British, through 
the Spaniards in the Floridas, with whom they were also in alliance, had prepared the 
minds of the southern tribes for the favorable reception of Tecumseh. The mission 
proving successful, savage war, with all its horrors and tortures, burst upon the defenceless 
settlements like a thunderbolt. What tongue can describe or pencil paint the revolting 
scene at Fort Mimms, or wherever else the infuriated savage could find the objects of his 
vengeance > Neither age nor sex was spared. All were doomed to instant destruction, 
or reserved for a slower process, by being subjected to brutalities and barbarities worse 
than sudden death. Amid the universal alarm and consternation all eyes were turned 
to Jackson — every voice proclaimed him the chosen leader to arrest the sweeping 
torrent of desolation. 

Who can describe the wild and frightful scenes of that unparalled Indian campaign — 
the heroism of the leader — the celerity of his movements — the fatigues of the march — 
the privations of the men — the impetuosity of the charge — every skirmish a victory ; 
every battle a triumph — the barbarian alliance dissolved — the savage tribes dispersed and 
pursued in every direction, and finally reduced to submission in the brief period of six 
months ! 

The importance of these decisive and overwhelming achievements can hardly be 
realized. The British allies of the confederated savages, in pursuance of the plan of 
campaign as agreed upon with Tecumseh and the Prophet, were hovering around the 
Gulf coast, arming and drilling the Indians in the Floridas, meditating a descent upon 
Fort Bowyer and Mobile, preparatory to the concentration of the confederated forces 
upon New Orleans and Louisiana Concurrent events in Europe were favorable to the 
success of the mighty scheme. The abdication of Napoleon and his flight to Elba had 
restored the hereditary monarchs to the thrones of their ancestors, and enabled Great 
Britain to withdraw her veteran troops- from the continent, and hurl them upon the 
defenceless shores of the Gulf of Mexico, in concert with their savage allies. The 
destruction of the barbarian league by Jackson, and the submission of the scattered 
tribes, had broken the force of the impending blow, and opened the way for a trial of 
strength, single-handed, between the soldiers of freedom and veterans in the cause of 
oppression. At the critical moment, and as if by the hand of an overruling Providence, 
Jackson was appointed a major general in the army, and assigned to the command of 
the Southern division. Time will not allow me to more than glance at the most 
striking events in the campaign. The British were occupying the Spanish forts at 
Pensacola, stimulating the Indians to a renewal of hostilities, and preparing for a 
descent upon Fort Bowyer and Mobile, and ultimately upon New Orleans, as the chief 
point of attack. Jackso-i's remonstrances with the Spanish Governor against har.ioring 
the enemy in what was professedly neutral territory being disregarded, his application to 
his own Government lor permission to vindicate the violated laws of neutrality remain- 
ing unanswered, the absence of instructions on points of vital importance at a time when 
inaction was ruin, who does not remember with what resistless energy he threw his 
protecting arm around Mobile, provided for Lawrence's heroic defence of Fort Bowyer, 
planted his little army in front of Pensacola, and, when his messenger was fired upon 
by the orders of the Governor, stormed the batteries, entered the town, hauled down the 
British flag, drove the enemy into the sea, and had the Spanish Governor at his feet, 
imploring mercy and forgiveness for the past, and faithfully promisinsr a religious 
observance of the laws of neutrality in the future ? Who can describe the rapidity of 
his movements for the defence of New Orleans— the magic effect of his presence in sup- 
pressing treasonable purposes — infusing confidence into the hearts of the desponding— 
his sleepless vigilance in watching the movements of the enemy within and without his 
camp— and his capacity for creating elements of defence where none had been provided ! 
Who can forget his glorious victories on the 23d of December and the Sth of January ! 



Who has not admired the self-sacrificing courage of the hero, who, to save the city and 
prevent the dismemberment of the Republic, assumed the awful responsibility of super- 
seding the civil authorities in the hour of extreme danger, in order immediately after- 
wards to lend his patriot arm to the maintainance of the supremacy of the law ! Who 
can paint the moral grandeur of the scene where the victorious soldier — the benefactor 
of the nation and the saviour of the city— fresh from the theatre of his glory, with his 
triumphant army around him, stands calmly before the judge whose dignity he had 
recently offended in the performance of an imperative duty, and meekly submits to an 
ignominious sentence and a heavy pecuniary penalty! Behold him quieting the mur- 
murs of the indignant multitude, and extending his protection to the trembling judge, 
and bidding him proceed with his sentence. Follow him as he leaves the court, receiv- 
ing the homage, the thanks, the prayers of a grateful people, mingled with resentments 
and imprecations upon the judge ! Hear him, in tones of eloquance and power, enjoin- 
ing upon them strict obedience to the civil as the paramount authority, since the neces- 
sity which caused its suspension had ceased to exist, and his conduct requires no other 
vindication. 

With the battle of the 8th of January the war is closed ; New Orleans is saved ; 
Louisiana remains a part of the American confederacy ; the idea of a barbarian empire 
is exploded ; the Mississippi valley is reserved for the abode of civilization and Chris- 
tianity ; the proposition of the British commissioners at Ghent that an unalterable 
boundary should be established for the Indians, from Cleveland, throueh the mouth of 
the Kentucky river, to the Gulf of Mexico, is rendered impossible ; the British scheme 
of erecting an impassable barrier to the growth and extension of our great Republic is 
abandoned. These are some of the results of Jackson's wonderful Indian and South- 
ern campaigns, which terminated with his glorious achievements at New Orleans. Had 
the Tndian war resulted adversely, the torch would have blazed from the lakes to the 
g U lf — ]\ T ew Orleans must evitable have fallen without a struggle, and the greter portion 
of the Mississippi valley passed under the dominion of the British barbarian league. 
Twelve States and four organized Territories have since been erected out of the coun- 
try which was thus to have been dedicated forever to barbarism under British protection ! 
The tide of emigration, carrying with it all the elements of political progress, social de- 
velopement, and industrial enterprise, continues to roll westward until it mingles with 
the waves of the Pacific. With the return of peace the business of the country revives, 
credit is restored, energy and enterprise pervade every department of industry, and the 
country leaps forth upon the swelling tide of prosperity in its career of greatness. 

Jackson was not permitted long to enjoy the social endearments and quiet repose of 
the Hermitage. At the instigation of Spanish officials and Britsh emissaries, the 
tomahawk and scalping knife of the Seminoles were again spreading desolation and car- 
nage over our southern borders. Jackson was ordered to repair to the scene of slaugh- 
ter, with instructions to drive back and chastise the savage invaders, and with authority, 
if necessary for that purpose, to pursue them into the Floridas. You have not forgotten 
with what terrible energy he hurled his forces upon the enemy's headquarters at St. 
M ar [ is — demolished their works — seized and executed the British incendiaries who in- 
stigated the massacres — pursued the fugitive savages — disregarded the protests and 
threats of the Spanish Governor — descended on Pensacola — pursued the terrified Gov- 
ernor, with the murderers under his protection, to Fort Carlos, and planted the stars 
and stripes upon its battlements. By the swiftness of his movements, the power of 
his example, and the terror of his name, he reduced the savage tribes, humbled the 
Spanish authorities, and expelled the British emissaries. 

He was thus enabled to terminate the war, provide security and repose to our frontier 
settlements, and return the same year to the shades of the Hermitage. This campaign 
laid the foundation for the acquisation of the Floridas, and the dispersion of the innu- 
merable hordes of bandits and pirates who infested the coast, committing depreadtions 
upon our settlements and commerce, and finding shelter in the bayous and everglades. 
Upon the ratification of the Florida treaty, Jackson was appointed by the President 
commissioner to receive the ceded provinces, and Governor of the new territory, en- 
dowed with all the civil and judicial as well as military authority which the Spanish 
Governors had wielded. Clothed with almost unlimited power, he exercised with a 
firm hand and unyielding nerve whatever authority was necessarv for the protection of 
society and the suppression of violence. Exhausted by duty and exposure, his physi- 
cal system sunk under the effects of the climate, and he was borne upon a litter through 
the wilderness to his beloved home on the banks of the Cumberland. 






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declined the mission to Mexico, tendered by President Monroe, and would gladly 
.ave remained in retirement, had not the affection of Tennesree placed him in the 
Senate of the United States, and the grateful voice of the nation called him to preside 
over the destinies of the Republic. Jackson came into the Presidency with his political 
principles well matured and immutably fixed. That exalted sentiment of personal free- 
dom and sacred regard for individual rights which he had conceived in the turbulent 
times of the Revolution, and which had been so clearly discernible in all the vicissitudes 
of his eventful career, it was now his mission to carry into the practical administration 
of the Government, and impress upon the public policy of the country. Time will 
not permit, even were the occasion appropriate, a detailed exposition of the leading 
measures and great acts of his brilliant administration. Nor, indeed, can it be neces- 
sary. The great and striking events of that animated period remain fresh in the 
memory and vivid before the mental vision. He met each question as it arose with a 
directness and frankness in harmony with his previous life. He seemed to solve the 
most intricate problem of statesmanship by intuition. He perceived truth in its totality, 
without the tedious process ot analysis, and was able to see the remotest consequences 
of an act while the wisest around him could only perceive its immediate results. 

The high qualities which, on a different theatre, had sustained him in every emer- 
gency, and enabled him to rise superior to all resistance, never failed him in his civil 
administration. Calm, patient, and even deferential in counsel, when his opinion waa 
matured and his resolution formed, he threw all the fiery energy of his nature into its 
execution. The history of his civil career, like, that of his military campaigns, con- 
sists of a rapid succession of terrific conflcts and brilliant achievements, in which he 
never lost a battle or failed in a skirmish. His State papers will stand forth, so long 
as the history of this Republic shall be read, as imperishable monuments to his states- 
manship. While the present generation offer up the homage of grateful hearts for 
patriotic services to the noble spirits who were engaged in those fiery conflicts, time 
must determine and history record the relative merits of the respective systems of po- 
litical policy. 

At the expiration of General Jackson's second presidential term he retired forever 
from public life, and repared to the shades of the Hermitage. He continued to feel an 
abiding interest in public affairs without the least desire to re-enter the political arena. 
He had the satisfaction of seeing the line of policy, in support of which his mighty 
energies had been so long exerted, receive the sanction of the nation. He had the con- 
solation of hnowing that his official conduct had been approved by the constituted au- 
thorities of his country, in obedience to the voice of the people, on every point in which 
it had been seriously called in question. He felt that his work was done — his mission 
fulfilled. The remainder of his days were spent in the society of his family, in improv- 
his farm, and dispensing a generous, unbounded hospitality. In the social circle, and 
around the domestic hearth, he was as simple as a child, remarkable for his amability 
and his capacity for making all happy around him. Much of his time was occupied in 
conversations and meditations upon religious subjects. He who never feared the face of 
man was not ashamed to confess his fear of God and his faith in the redeemer. In the 
fullness of hope he serenely approached the end of his earthly career, and died in the 
triumphant consciousness of immortality beyond the grave. His death produced a pro- 
found impression upon the hearts and minds of men. The voice of partisan strife was 
hushed, while a continent was clad in mourning and bathed in tears. All felt that a 
great m.in had fallen. Yet there was consolation in the consciousness that the lustre of 
his name, the fame of his great deeds, and the results of his partiotic services, would be 
preserved through all time— a rich inheritance to the devotees of freedom. He still lives 
in the bright pages of history, in the marks of his genius upon the institutions ot his 
country, and by the impress of his character upon that of his countrymen. He lives in 
his own great example and by his heroic achivements. He lives in the spirit ot the 
age— the genius of progress which is to ennoble and exhalt humanity, and preserve and 
perpetuate liberty. 



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